There are literally thousands of contemporary art exhibitions all over the world, but just a few of them guarantee visitors of all ages to positively connect with the artworks on display. Exhibitions about or featuring Joana Vasconcelos's works are definitely among them.
The pleasure visitors derive from her artworks is indeed visual, but also synesthetically tactile. Yet there's more behind the artist who represented Portugal at the 55th Venice International Art Biennale.
If you carefully analyse Vasconcelos' works you realise that, behind the colours, the accumulation and the disorderly ordered chaos, there is another dimension, or rather, various temporal dimensions.
Time is indeed one theme the artist has touched upon since she started creating her artworks: her crocheted pieces are a way to go back in time and discover history and craft while finding her own identity, while even her intervention on the floating Portuguese pavilion at the Venice Biennale, was a way to elicit emotional responses from people, inviting them to erode temporal, spatial and geographical boundaries.
Vasconcelos' current exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery is undoubtedly the best one about the artist.
Featuring twenty-four art works, "Time Machine" invades and pervades the gallery spaces on different levels: a giant ice-cream and a cupcake made with plastic sand moulds play with the public spaces outside the building; Vasconcelos' new monumental piece, the colourfully riotous and tentacularly monumental textile living organism "Britannia" spreads from the ceiling to the stairs and the balconies; large artworks - including "War Games", a black Morris Oxford car covered in toy rifles and filled with brightly coloured soft and plastic toys - are on display in the space dedicated to contemporary exhibitions; a group of faience animals designed by Portuguese artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro are covered or maybe imprisoned in intricate second skin-like crocheted nets and engage in a dialogue with works from the permanent collection of the museum.
The present and the past collide and communicate with each other, attempting to project themselves into the future: "Lilicoptère", a Bell 47 helicopter adorned with pink ostrich feathers and Swarovski Crystals, calls to mind historical figures à la Marie Antoinette, while pointing towards the saccharine kitsch of contemporary celebrities, proving to be a perfect time machine; luminous statues of Our Lady of Fatima fill a tricycle van commenting upon religious consumerism; what look like three beautiful flowers from a distance reveal to the visitors as kinetic sculptures made with steam irons that open and close hinting at a domestically robotic flower garden; a three dimensional textile sculpture erupts from a wall celebrating female voluptuousness and sparking a dialogue with William Etty's "The Sirens and Ulysses".
Objects and materials are completely transformed and assume new meanings, prompting visitors to ponder about today's key dichotomies such as traditions Vs modernity and artisanal Vs industrial, and challenging in a cleverly humorous way the limits between painting and sculpture, the figurative and the abstract.
Can you introduce us to the main themes of the "Time Machine" exhibition in Manchester?
Joana Vasconcelos: The event has to do with time-travel – be it a travel to the past or to the future. Manchester Art Gallery collection's works are from the past, but they still make sense to us today. Thus, why not talk to them and interact with them? With this exhibition I decided to create a dialogue between the past and the future. I'm not doing anything new, but instead I'm continuing the work that was started many centuries ago. We evolve through the existence of others, and seeing us together makes sense. The new thing we have done with "Time Machine" is to open the doors to discussion, bringing a new life to the collection and creating a new dynamic. Curiously, I never know if I'm going back or going forward in time – I'm between worlds. Moreover, the theme of recycling and renewal is a common thread running through this show.
The new commission - "Britannia 2014" - features crocheted and knitted pieces, and different fabric elements, recycled clothes and Portuguese tassels, what inspired it? Do the cotton velvets you employed in this work also hint at Manchester (as they are referred to as Manchester cloth)?
Joana Vasconcelos: "Britannia" is part of my "Valkyries" series, which I initiated in 2004. These works are inspired by the female characters of Norse mythology in charge of shaping the destiny of men and selecting the bravest and most valiant warriors killed in battle. I have been developing this series in a manner in which each work reports to a different universe. In "Britannia"’s case, I was very much inspired by Manchester’s history, the cloth and textiles that are very common in Portugal. We live from cotton and manufacturing just as Manchester used to, and I wanted to express that connection by using fabrics from around the world, to find a way of connecting Manchester and Lisbon, Britain and Portugal. Moreover, this piece also feminises the cold, steely, masculine space of the atrium with its array of colours, glitter, beads and flowers.
The three kinetic sculptures comprising the "Full Steam Ahead" group are made with steam irons but from a distance they look like amazing flowers: do they hint at the dichotomy in many women's lives, often trapped in the routine of an everyday life, but perennially looking for beauty?
Joana Vasconcelos: That could be one way of looking at them. I don't, in fact, aim to enclose my works within a single discourse, but prefer to leave them open to interpretation. They are ambiguous and paradoxical, and the richness is exactly in that multiplicity of possible interpretations and discourses. This work, in particular, presents itself as a robotized fountain, reinterpreting the behavior of a flower's petals, opening and closing in a sort of synchronized, sci-fi choreography. It opposes and parodies other robotic universes prone to warlike transformism, through a contrast between the somewhat masculine universe that is called upon by the kineticism and industrially made objects, and the feminine, poetic language which the resulting work expresses.
Among the most striking pieces featured in the exhibition there is the helicopter covered in pink feathers: I heard that it was conceived as a modern Cinderella-carriage. Who would in our times use such a modern means of transport with such strong fable like connections?
Joana Vasconcelos: Lady Gaga. Definitely.
The gallery also includes a series of smaller textile works that spark a dialogue with works of art from the city’s collections. Is there one work of art that you felt went pretty well with your pieces?
Joana Vasconcelos: I was really happy with "Cottonopolis", the latest work from my "Tetris" series. This work was specifically conceived and realized for the exhibition, to contact with William de Morgan and Pilkington tiles, and to frame William Holman Hunt’s painting" The Shadow of Death", 1870-73. The feminine and the masculine are crossed in this work which makes a bridge between painting, sculpture and architecture, making use of Viúva Lamego azulejos (Portuguese tiles, from a factory founded in 1849) and tubes and protuberances in various crochets and fabrics that emerge from the structure, spreading themselves, contaminating the room with exuberant colours that remit to the surrounding paintings.
Is there a craft technique you'd like to experiment with in future?
Joana Vasconcelos: There are so many to discover! But I would like to one day work with wicker. It's a technique that dates back to ancient Egypt, used to make a variety of items, that spread to various areas of the world throughout time. You can find it almost anywhere - it's a universal technique - and it has amazing, sculptural capacities.
Which is the most unusual material you have so far used in your pieces?
Joana Vasconcelos: A lot of the materials I use can be deemed as unusual, if you think about the cooking pans I employed to build giant shoes, steam irons to build moving fountains, plastic sand molds to recreate huge treats or even crochet itself. However, I believe the most unusual to date has been tampons – employed to create the work "A Noiva" (The Bride, 2001-2005).
Your works are suspended between art and craft: is there an artist who inspires you?
Joana Vasconcelos: I love all of René Lalique's work. The jewellery, the vases, the chandeliers – his works is exceptionally beautiful.
Is there a textile museum around the world where you would like to showcase your pieces?
Joana Vasconcelos: I'm not a textile artist, but a contemporary artist who works with textiles and, thus, I never thought of exhibiting in such particular places. However, I would very much like to work with a Samba school for the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, and realize an exhibition at the Guggenheim, in New York, for which I would like to create a site-specific intervention – and I know exactly which one!
Apart from this exhibition in Manchester at the moment you have another event - "Casarão" - in Brazil at the Casa Triângulo that also features "Aquarela", a serpentine sculpture that seems to invade a rigid structure covered in azulejos, and the waterfall-like "Amazônia". Do you have any further exhibition planned for this year?
Joana Vasconcelos: The solo exhibition "Casarão", at the gallery Casa Triângulo, in São Paulo will be on until 10 May, while the site-specific piece "Amazônia" will be at the Pivô space, in the iconic Copan building of São Paulo until 26 April, in the exhibition commemorating the 25th anniversary of Casa Triângulo. I also will have two works ("Volupt"a, 2014, and "Perruque", 2012) in the exhibition "Baroque", at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, in Stockholm, until 19 October, as part of an event that presents classic works by Baroque icons such as Rembrandt and La Tour alongside contemporary artists, like Lida Abdul and John Coplans. I will be opening a solo exhibition in Berlin, at the end of June and then I will be involved in exhibitions in Macau and Shanghai, and also Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. To resume, this has been and will continue to be a hectic year, with a thoroughly busy schedule!
"Joana Casconcelos: Time Machine", Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL, UK, until 1st June 2014.
Image credits for this post
1. Joana Vasconcelos with True Faith, 2014
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
2-3. Britannia, 2014, Handmade woollen knitting and crochet, felt appliqués, industrial knitted fabric, fabrics, ornaments, polystyrene, polyester, steel cables; dimensions variable; Collection of the artist
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
4. Lilicoptère, 2012, Bell 47 helicopter, ostrich feathers, Swarovski crystals, gold leaf, industrial paint, dyed leather upholstery embossed with fine gold, Arraiolos rugs, walnut wood, woodgrain painting, passementerie 300 x 274 x 1265 cm; Courtesy Haunch of Venison/Christie’s; London Work produced in collaboration with Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, Lisbon
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
© Manchester Art Gallery
5. Big Booby #2, 2011 Handmade woollen crochet, industrial knitted fabric, polyester, stainless steel 305 x 260 x 87 cm
Collection of the artist
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
6. Tutti Frutti, 2011, Plastic sand moulds, stainless steel 400 x 220 x 220 cm
Collection of the artist
© Manchester Art Gallery
7. Britannia, 2014, Handmade woollen knitting and crochet, felt appliqués, industrial knitted fabric, fabrics, ornaments, polystyrene, polyester, steel cables;
Dimensions variable
Collection of the artist
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
8. A Todo o Vapor (Amarelo #1) [Full Steam Ahead (Yellow #1)], 2014
A Todo o Vapor (Vermelho #1) [Full Steam Ahead (Red #1)], 2012
A Todo o Vapor (Verde #1) [Full Steam Ahead (Green #1)], 2013
BOSCH steam irons, PLC gearmotor, microprocessor-based electronic control unit, low pressure hydraulic system, stainless steel, demineralized water 155 x Ø 170 cm
Collection of the artist Work produced with the support of Robert Bosch Hausgeräte GmbH
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
9. Lilicoptère, 2012, Bell 47 helicopter, ostrich feathers, Swarovski crystals, gold leaf, industrial paint, dyed leather upholstery embossed with fine gold, Arraiolos rugs, walnut wood, woodgrain painting, passementerie 300 x 274 x 1265 cm; Courtesy Haunch of Venison/Christie’s; London Work produced in collaboration with Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, Lisbon
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
© Manchester Art Gallery
10. Cottonopolis, 2014, Viúva Lamego hand painted tiles, handmade woollen crochet, ornaments, polyester, MDF, iron 425 x 625 x 490 cm
Collection of the artist
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
11. www.fatimashop, 2002, Piaggio APE50, luminous statues of Our Lady of Fatima, ultraviolet light bulb, painted MDF, timer Video projection: Fui às Compras [Gone Shopping], mini-DV transferred to DVD, PAL, 4:3, colour, sound, 33' Piaggio: 167 x 123 x 265 cm Projection: 3 m large (proportional height)
Fondation LVMH pour la Création, Paris
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
12. Hwarang, 2014, Carrara marble lions and bases, Azores crocheted lace (2x) 200 x 65 x 110 cm
Private collection
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
13. Sibyl Vane, 2013, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro faience painted with ceramic glaze, handmade cotton crochet 14 x 50 x 67 cm
Collection of the artist
© Manchester Art Gallery
14. Bond Girl, 2014, Concrete statue, acrylic paint, handmade cotton crochet, plastic globe, light bulb, electric system 276 x 40 x 40 cm
Collection of the artist
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
15. Maria Pia, 2013, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro faience painted with ceramic glaze, tatting, handmade cotton crochet 135 x 78 x 105 cm
Private collection, Lisbon
© Luís Vasconcelos/Cortesia Unidade Infinita Projectos
16. Aquarela, 2014, Viúva Lamego hand painted tiles, handmade woollen crochet, ornaments, polyester, MDF, iron 245 x 400 x 450 cm
Courtesy Casa Triângulo, São Paulo
© Unidade Infinita Projectos
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